Outdoor Activities ...

As we travel, we like to pursue some of our interests (such as astronomy and bird watching).

When in Elvaston, we use the following websites to find information relevant to Elvaston and the surrounding area.

• Weather ...
  • Before heading outdoors, you should check the weather:
  • The National Weather Service forecast for Elvaston

• Astronomy & Satellites ...
  • Whether using binoculars, a small telescope or the naked-eye, the Heavens-Above website can help you to find your way around the night-time sky. In addition to detailed sky charts, their website will help you find planets, asteriods, comets, satellites and their tracks across the sky.
  • To give accurate results, Heavens-Above requires the latitude and longitude of your location. As a starting point, when we link to Heavens-Above, we pass this GPS location for Elvaston:
  • 40.395426, -91.249311
  • Once you're on the Heavens-Above website, you can improve its accuracy by giving a more precise longitude and latitude as your actual position.
  • Open the Heavens-Above website centered on Elvaston

• Bird Watching ...
  • We enjoy finding new spots for bird watching and we use the eBird website for local sighting reports and to help identify hotspots.
  • The eBird website is organized on a county-by-county basis. We have selected Hancock County as the starting point when you click on the link below:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Hancock County
  • Since Elvaston is near Lee County and also Clark County, we have provided a link to their eBird sighting reports:
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Lee County
  • Open the eBird sighting report for Clark County

• Waymarking ...
  • Looking for somewhere out of the ordinary? Find a unique place and want to share it with others? Then it's time to visit Waymarking.com:
  • Open the Waymark.com report for Elvaston

Curious and Interesting Names Near Elvaston ...

As we travel, we always see a community with a name that gives pause. While there are names which are interesting or familiar, some catch our attention or strike our fancy. We always wonder about such a name. If time permits and the community is not too far, we'll usually try to make a side-trip.

• Bricker
  (16 miles [25.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Bricker is located in Lee County (IA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Bricker
• Carthage
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the east)
  • Carthage is located in Hancock County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Carthage
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 2,419 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Carthage <1>
• Chili
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the southeast)
  • Chili is located in Hancock County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Chili
• Elderville
  (5 miles [8 km] to the southwest)
  • Elderville is located in Hancock County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Elderville
• Ferris
  (6 miles [9.7 km] to the northeast)
  • Ferris is located in Hancock County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Ferris
  • Population from the 2020 Census: 143 people
  • Jump to TripAdvisor's Tourism page for Ferris <1>
• Fountain Green
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the east)
  • Fountain Green is located in Hancock County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Fountain Green
• Gregory Landing
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the southwest)
  • Gregory Landing is located in Clark County (MO)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Gregory Landing
• La Crosse
  (15 miles [24.1 km] to the northeast)
  • La Crosse is located in Hancock County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for La Crosse
• Middle Creek
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the east)
  • Middle Creek is located in Hancock County
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Middle Creek
• Sugar Creek ‑ Historic
  (13 miles [20.9 km] to the west)
  • Sugar Creek is located in Lee County (IA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Sugar Creek
• Summitville
  (11 miles [17.7 km] to the northwest)
  • Summitville is located in Lee County (IA)
  • Jump to our Gazetteer entry for Summitville

How Far From Elvaston to ...

We spend a lot of time looking through Gazetteers & Almanacs that were published in the late 1800's and early 1900's. Many of the Gazetteers include the distance from a village such as Elvaston to various places of note, such as the White House.

With a nod to our favorite Gazetteers, the straight-line distance<2> beginning in Elvaston and extending to:

• Carthage, which is the Seat of Hancock County, lies just to the East Northeast.
• Springfield, which is the State Capital of Illinois, lies 94 miles [151.3 km]<2> to the east southeast (ESE). If you could drive a straight line from Elvaston to Springfield, with an average speed<3>of 63 miles [101.4 km] per hour, it would take less than two hours to make the trip. A comfortable walk of 2.2 miles [3.5 km] per hour would take 6 days. A horse and buggy averaging 3.2 miles [5.1 km] per hour would take most of three days.
• The White House (Washington, DC) is 761 miles [1,224.7 km] to the east (E). Driving would take just about two full days, a buggy would take 30 days and walking would take 44 days.
• The shortest distance<4> to Jerusalem (specifically the Temple Mount and the Dome of the Rock) is 6,387 miles [10,278.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<5>
• The distance to the Great Mosque of Mecca (specifically the Ka'bah - or Kaaba ) is 7,129 miles [11,473 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<6>
• The distance to Saint Peter's Basilica (The Vatican) is 5,015 miles [8,070.9 km] and it lies to the northeast (NE).<7>'